Captain Moore

“ Mary, in company with the Medusa, Amphion, and Lively frigates, discovered four sail, which formed the line of battle a-head on the approach of the British squadron, and continued to steer for Cadiz, the van ship carrying a broad pendant, and the one next her a Rear-Admiral’s flag. The Medusa being the headmost of the British frigates, her commander (the present Sir John Gore) placed her on the weatherbeam of the Commodore; Captain Moore took a similar position along-side of the Rear-Admiral, the Amphion and Lively each taking an opponent in the same manner, as they came up. ”

“ Captain Moore’s next appointment was to the Melampus, of 42 guns and 267 men, stationed off the French coast. On the 13th Nov. 1796, he drove on shore, and destroyed, at the entrance of Barfleur harbour, l’Etonnant corvette, of 18 guns; and the same day, in company with the Childers sloop, captured l’Etna, afterwards the Cormorant, of 20 guns. Early in the following year, the Melampus formed part of the squadron sent to escort the Princess of Wirtemberg from Harwich to Cuxhaven. ”

“ Captain Moore, the carpenter and mate, also willingly agreed to his proposal to go in the cutter.
The cutter was accordingly got over the side, and the ship lying pretty quiet, they cut the tackles, when she dropt very well into the water, and the penter brought her up. They next went to work with the long-boat, and day-light having fairly come in, gave them great spirits, as they flattered [Pg 311] themselves, should it please God Almighty to send a ship, it would be in their power to save all their lives, the weather being now much more moderate than before. ”

“ Captain Moore had not neglected to take particular pains to insure the safety of his vessel. The tops of her masts were higher than the surrounding headlands, and the first thing he did when he came to an anchor there, was to send a man up to the mast-head to act as lookout. He saw the sloop when she was coming out of the harbor of Machias, and forthwith informed the deck; whereupon an officer ascended to his side, and with a glass distinctly made out the company of hostile men on board of her, and he could even see the guns and pitchforks with which they were armed. ”

“ But when I heard no cry, or shot, or sounds of a struggle, I began to formulate plans for getting back to my room or finding the captain and begging him to let me help him fight against Thirkle and his men.
Lying huddled under the bunk in the bilge-water, which swung from side to side as the vessel rolled, I must admit that I would have presented a sorry spectacle to any one who could have seen me, clad only in the trousers of my pajamas, and suggesting anything but a fighting man. ”

“ Moore, "are there not some of Wyn's things here yet in that old trunk in your lumber-room?"
"Yes. Perhaps you can find something the chief can put on, and bring down a pair of the captain's socks and slippers."
"Oh, never mind, never mind," said the damp giant.
"But I will mind," said the little woman; and she went out and soon returned with the things, which she insisted he should go and put on.
"Well, always one woman or another," said the Panther in a tone of resignation: "always squaw git her own way. You see that little girl, mamma? Could squeeze her up just like a rabbit. ”

“ And Captain Moore showed that he was in earnest. Almost with the words he lighted a hand-grenade which he carried in his arms, and threw it toward O'Brien. It did not come half way to the sloop but it exploded with stunning force and gave the provincials some idea of what was in store for them.
"Bring us alongside, Zeke," exclaimed Captain O'Brien, so impatient that he could not stand still. "If you can not manage her let somebody else go to the wheel." ”

“ The Diver, the famous submarine boat invented by Arthur Moore, the talented son of Captain Henry Moore, of the United States navy, is soon to be put in commission for a most extraordinary voyage. Under the command of Captain Moore, who will be accompanied by the inventor, his son, the Diver will make the trip from San Francisco to China, almost entirely under water. It is understood that the submarine goes on secret service for the Government. ”

“ She proved to be la Resolue, of 40 guns and 500 men, (including troops embarked on board her for the purpose of joining the rebels in Ireland,) 10 of whom were killed, and several wounded. Her companion, the Immortalité, of 42 guns, was afterwards taken by the Fisgard. On the 15th April, 1799, Captain Moore captured le Papillon French privateer, a fine vessel, mounting 10 long nines, and 4 brass 36-pounder carronades, with a complement of 123 men. Three days afterwards he chased le Nantois, a private ship of war, of 14 guns and 150 men, which overset, and all on board perished. ”

“ No fancy can picture the seeming distraction of the poor unhappy children clinging to their mothers, and the wives hanging over their husbands, lamenting their miserable fate:—Shocking situation! words cannot describe it.”
Captain Nicholls then called the men down the main-hatchway, along with him, to examine the leak in the hold. He told them they must be content with their fate; and as they were certain they had done their duty, they should submit to Providence with pious resignation. He walked on deck with Captain Moore, desiring him to devise any expedient to save them from perishing. ”

“ Moore rung out sweet sounds from it evening after evening. Mrs. M. was an industrious, intelligent Southern woman; before she met Captain Moore, she had a sort of antipathy to dogs and Yankees; both, however, suddenly disappeared, for after a short acquaintance, she fell desperately in love with the captain, and allowed his great Newfoundland dog, (who had saved the captain, and a great number of boys from drowning,) to lick her hand, and rest his cold, black nose on her lap; on this evening Neptune lay at her feet, and was another ornament of the parlor. ”

“ Jan. 1798, Captain Moore, being on a cruize. to the westward, fell in with, and after a short, but close action, captured la Volage French corvette, of 22 guns and 195 men, 4 of whom were killed and 8 wounded. The Melampus had 2 mortally, and 3 severely wounded. The prize, though a national ship, had been lent to, and fitted out by, the merchants of Nantz. Her commander and officers belonged to the republican marine. ”

“ Foremost among so many heroes was Captain Moore of the 32nd, who seems to have been looked on as the soul of the defence, ever present at the sorest need, and never seen but to leave "men something more courageous, and women something less unhappy." ”

“ At this moment, Captain Moore, who had heard the conversation, protruded his head through the hatch and Paul informed him that the captain of the Culpepper desired to speak to him. He hailed the Culpepper and desired to know what was wanted. ”

“ They'll loot her and scuttle her before the sun is well up, and we'll go down in this trap. Help me lift poor Harris into a bunk."
We stowed the body of the mate in a lower bunk and covered it with straw and some of the clothing of the Chinese. Riggs sat down again and stared at the littered deck.
"But we must fight to the last minute," I said. "We can't give up like this, even if we are trapped. You certainly do not intend to surrender now. I know, captain, that the odds are great; but we can fight, can't we?" ”

“ The townspeople who had followed him, quickly took places on this bank, and a man named Foster called on him to surrender, but Captain Moore got his anchor again and ran out into the bay, apparently unmolested by those who had summoned him to surrender.
It looked as if the proposed capture would not be made. But on Monday morning (May 11, 1775) two of the young men of the town, Joseph Wheaton and Dennis O’Brien, met on17 the wharf, when Wheaton proposed taking possession of one of the lumber sloops, raising a crew of volunteers and going after the Margaretta. ”

“ The sea was almost to the open ports on the port side; and, as I tried to gain my feet on the tilted deck of the forecastle, I fell against the outboards of the line of bunks.
"She's aground!" screamed Captain Riggs at me. "She's gone smash flat into a bed of coral! See that green streak running away from us to seaward? That's a reef running out from the mainland and we've piled up on it, and if we don't slip off we're safe until it comes on to blow."
He ran to the starboard side and climbed the bunks to look through the ports there.
"It's all around us! Hear her settling? ”

“ He was now about to enter upon, perhaps, the most important mission ever assigned to him by the Secret Service department. The story of the quest upon which he was about to enter will best be told in the conversation which now took place in the clubroom of the Black Bear Patrol on this evening of the 11th of September.
Presently Captain Moore transferred his gaze from the apartment to the boys gathered about the table and grouped about the place. As a matter of course all conversation in the room had ceased on the arrival of the Captain. ”

“ But those who thus leave this ship will never ascend its sides again."
The mutineers murmured loudly. One man, a gunner, named William Moore, stepped forward, saying,—
"You are ruining us all. You are keeping us in beggary and starvation. But for your whims, we might all be prosperous and rich."
At this outspoken mutiny, Kidd flew into a passion. Seizing a heavy bucket that stood near, he dealt Moore a terrible blow on the head. The unhappy man fell to the deck with a fractured skull, and the other mutineers sullenly yielded to the captain's will. Moore died the next day ”

“ The Phaeton frigate, on which Moore had procured a passage, left Spithead on September 25th, and on November 5th we find him writing to his mother from Norfolk in Virginia. The voyage, though rather rough, had been a pleasant experience, and, after his fashion, Moore had made friends with everybody on board. Thirty years later he was delighted with a passage in the Naval Recollections of Captain Scott, who had sailed as midshipman on the Phaeton. ”

“ Their machines had burrowed straightforwardly into the grass and no threats of courtmartial could make them sit and look silly till help arrived and they were tamely rescued. So one by one they wormed their way out to fix the ignition, adjust the carburetor, or hack free the cogs which moved the tracks. And one by one their radios became silent and were not heard again.
The captain went from cockiness to doubt, from doubt to anxiety, and then to anguished fury. He had been so completely confident of the maneuver's outcome that its failure drove him, not to despair, but to anger. ”

“ Pull back boys—let’s get away from these trees and out where we can see the Yanks!” The captain whirled on his men. “Here, damn you,” he shouted furiously, “you all gone crazy? The man said nothing. There’s no trap!”
The men moved slowly, sullenly away. “I heard him,” one of them muttered, looking accusingly toward me.
The captain’s shout became a yell. “Come back here! Back here, I say!”
His raging stride overtook the still irresolute men. He grabbed the one called Jenks by the shoulder and whirled him about. Jenks tried to jerk free. There was fear on his face, and hate. ”

“ Harris! Be ye hurt, Mr. Harris? Oh, Mr. Harris!"
"We got him all right," whispered Buckrow. "That settles Mr. Matey, well and good. Hey, Thirkle?"
"Good, clean job," replied Thirkle. "Good, clean job, Bucky, and smart as could be the way you drew him down. See what you can do with the skipper now."
"Anything wrong, Mr. Harris?" called the captain from the scuttle. "Good Lord! ain't I to have no officers? What's to become of my ship with such a crew aboard me? Sally Ann! Sally Ann!"
"Come on down, cap'n," said a voice startlingly like Harris's. ”

“ The Moore was commanded by Beverley Kennon, a trained naval officer, but not then in the Confederate Navy; the Quitman's captain, Grant, was of the same class as the commanders of the River Defence Fleet. The Manassas had some power as a ram, and the Moore, by her admirable handling, showed how much an able man can do with poor instruments, but the only one of the above that might really have endangered the success of the Union fleet was the Louisiana. ”

“ I laughed. "He says he's a sailor with a Manila thirst in his throat and no job."
Petrak swung his burden to the deck and squared his shoulders, making a gesture, which he intended as a salute to the captain.
"Petrak's my name, sir," he said, addressing Captain Riggs. "I've been bo'sun, sir, discharged out of the Southern Cross when she was sold in Singapore, and shipped out in the H.B. Leeds that went down in a typhoon. Junk picked us up, sir, what was left of us, and I lost all my discharges and can't get a ship out of here. I'm smart, sir, and strong, if I do look small. ”

“ How's that, captain?"
"A good scheme," he said, smiling at me. "The very thing, Mr. Trenholm. I have some papers and envelopes here in my jacket, and a stub of pencil for the log-book, and while you are at your writing I'll fashion a stopper for the bottle and a buoy."
We poured out the last of the water in a pannikin and kept it for Rajah, and I ripped open a couple of envelopes and set to work on them with a stub of pencil, while Captain Riggs took my knife and began to whittle a piece of board. ”

“ They stopped and looked up at him.
"Gear for a passenger," said the taller of the two.
"What passenger?" demanded Riggs, in surprise.
"A parson," said the spokesman, and as he said it Meeker himself came up the after-ladder.
"Ah, the captain," he said. "I am the Rev. Luther Meeker," he explained, presenting his ticket. "I am going to Hong-Kong, and, if I am not mistaken, this is the good ship Kut Sang"
"That your baggage? All right, you men—come aboard and look sharp." ”